Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell wants to remove the anonymity of the Internet from sex offenders

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell is seeking
legislation requiring convicted sex offenders to register their online
identities with the state’s recently revamped Sex Offender Registry. Sex
offenders will have to identify their email addresses, instant messaging and
chat room screen names so that sites such as MySpace can more easily block
access of predators.

This decision comes after a discussion in Attorney General
Bob McDonnell’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force. A member who represents
MySpace.com told the group about the Web site’s initiative seeking federal
legislation that would require convicted sex offenders to register all of their
email addresses in a national sex offender database. The group instantly
supported the idea but added the additional requirement of instant messaging
identities.

Speaking about the proposed legislation, Attorney General
McDonnell noted, “We require all sex offenders to register their physical and
mailing addresses in Virginia, but in the 21st century it is just as critical
that they register any email addresses or IM screen names. This has become
readily apparent during the meetings of our Youth Internet Safety Task Force,
and it is time we take this step. MySpace.com has led the way in coming up with
this proactive solution, and Virginia will take the lead in being the first to
propose the measure on a state level. I hope other social networking sites will
join MySpace.com in implementing the software necessary to accomplish this
goal.”

MySpace last week announced
a technology that will be able to search existing state and federal databases
to identify and delete the profiles of registered sex offenders. Such an effort
to identify sex
offenders on MySpace was first reported early October when Kevin Poulsen
used a Perl script to cross reference MySpace
users with state databases.

By creating a database of email addresses and IM names, and
allowing social networking sites such as MySpace.com to access that database,
law enforcement will be able to help such sites monitor users. When
MySpace.com, or any other social networking site, comes across the email
address or IM name of a registered sex offender they will now have the ability
to both delete and/or block these individuals from accessing their site.

“It is critical that states take this step as the vast
majority of prosecutions and convictions for sex offenders take place at the
state level,” McDonnell continued to emphasize. “This is not a foolproof
approach, as we all fully realize how easy it is to get new email addresses.
But by requiring registration, and by making the penalties for failure to
register the same as those for failure to register physical and mailing
addresses, we will take another positive step towards protecting children
online.”

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